Angry Orchard Cider Recalling Exploding Bottles

Yesterday, Angry Orchard announced a voluntary recall on two batches of their cider produced in June. Apparently, customer complaints of over-carbonated bottles and even bottles breaking unexpectedly led the company to realize that these specific batches were experiencing re-fermentation after bottling.

Though, as Angry Orchard points out, re-fermentation doesn’t pose any health risks if you drink it, it could cause injury if a bottle happened to break while you were handling it. Fermentation causes the release of carbon dioxide; it’s what makes cider fizzy. But too much CO2 in a well-sealed glass container can cause it to burst. Occasionally, you’ll hear homebrewer horror stories of accidentally creating overcarbonated “bottle bombs” with explosions so strong they drove glass shards into a wall—though it’s probably unlikely that would happen for the product of a commercial cider company like Angry Orchard. More likely is that these ciders just pour out with way too much head.

The cider brand has listed the codes printed on recalled cases or 12-packs on their website. They also list the codes that are printed on recalled individual bottles, though, ironically, they remind you that you should “use extreme care when handling” those bottles because of the whole “they might explode” thing. If you find any of these products, they should be disposed of “right away in an outside container.” Customers can then contact the company for a full refund.

As of now, no injuries have been reported, according to KARE 11. Except maybe the injury to your reputation for being a cider drinker.